Microsoft Visual Studio Beginner: Source Control

Name: Microsoft Visual Studio Beginner: Source Control
Author: Gerald Eckert

Source control best practices with GitHub and Visual Studio

Preview the first lesson free — get full access to all 3 lessons.

Course: On-Demand

Hello, my name is Gerald. In these lessons, you will learn how to use source control with GitHub from Visual Studio. So in this lesson, we will cover how to set up a GitHub account and how to connect to it from Visual Studio. First, you need to set up a GitHub account. On our screen here, we see the GitHub website, and to sign up, in the top right corner, click the Sign Up button. This opens an interactive window where you can enter your email address, choose a password, and then finally, you will have to confirm your email address. Once that's completed, you'll be signed up for GitHub and you'll be ready to connect from Visual Studio. Let's jump into Visual Studio so we can see how to connect from there. Once in Visual Studio, you need to first change a configuration item. Let's click File and then Account Settings. From here, click Account Options. And then, in the tree view, make sure you select Environment and then Accounts. And we need to change this setting here, Add and Reauthenticate Accounts Using. The default option is the Embedded Web Browser. The embedded web browser uses Visual Studio's web browser to prompt you for your credentials to sign into various accounts. The embedded web browser is very buggy, doesn't run scripts correctly, so you want to choose System Web Browser so that you can authenticate using Chrome or Edge or Firefox, whatever browser you have installed. This works much better than the embedded web browser. So first, change this setting and then click OK. Now we're gonna sign into a Microsoft account. Using GitHub, while signed into a Microsoft account, works much smoother than being signed into only your GitHub account. So we're first going to sign into a Microsoft account. Click the Sign In button and you'll be prompted to enter Microsoft credentials. I'm gonna enter my credentials for this course. So I entered my credentials for this course and I am now signed into Microsoft Visual Studio. Let's close this window and then we will add our GitHub account. So let's click the Add dropdown and select GitHub. We are now being prompted to enter our GitHub credentials. Go ahead and enter the email and password you use to sign up for GitHub. After you enter your GitHub credentials, you will be successfully connected to GitHub within Visual Studio. Here we are back in Visual Studio. You can see both of my accounts are now connected. You are now ready to start using source control with GitHub from within Visual Studio. Stay tuned for the next lesson where we will learn how to create and clone repositories within Visual Studio.

Beginner Provider : Gerald Eckert 3 Lessons · 13m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

Using source control is a requirement for nearly every software project you start or contribute to. Creating backup folders, versioned zip files, or saving code in your cloud storage is not an option anymore. If you need to undo a single change, figure out what the code looked like a year ago, or see who changed which line of code in a specific file, source control will take care of this for you. GitHub is integrated directly into Visual Studio and is one of the easiest source control systems to set up and start running from day one. These lessons will serve as an introduction to GitHub and will explore the essential GitHub functions, including commit, fetch, pull, push, and sync.

In these lessons on Source Control with GitHub, you will learn how to set up a GitHub account and the benefits of connecting to GitHub through Visual Studio. We will also create and clone repositories and use the essential GitHub functions.

What You'll Learn

Set up a GitHub account and connect to GitHub through Visual Studio
Create and clone GitHub repositories
Use the essential GitHub functions: commit, fetch, pull, push, and sync
Apply source control best practices
Explain the different functions of GitHub
Recognize the powerful features and benefits of source control

Key Takeaways

Source control is a requirement for nearly every software project you start or contribute to, replacing options like backup folders, versioned zip files, or saving code in cloud storage.
Source control lets you undo a single change, see what the code looked like a year ago, and identify who changed which line of code in a specific file.
GitHub is integrated directly into Visual Studio and is one of the easiest source control systems to set up and run from day one.
The course covers the essential GitHub functions: commit, fetch, pull, push, and sync.
Connecting to GitHub through Visual Studio provides specific benefits that the lessons explore.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will I learn in this course?

These lessons serve as an introduction to GitHub and explore the essential GitHub functions, including commit, fetch, pull, push, and sync. You will learn how to set up a GitHub account, the benefits of connecting to GitHub through Visual Studio, and how to create and clone repositories.

Why is source control important?

Source control is a requirement for nearly every software project you start or contribute to. It lets you undo a single change, figure out what the code looked like a year ago, or see who changed which line of code in a specific file.

Why use GitHub with Visual Studio?

GitHub is integrated directly into Visual Studio and is one of the easiest source control systems to set up and start running from day one.

What topics do the lessons cover?

The lessons cover setting up GitHub and connecting it with Visual Studio, creating and cloning a GitHub repository, and the essential GitHub functions (commit, fetch, pull, push, sync).

What skills does this course build?

The course builds skills in Git (Version Control System), GitHub, Microsoft Visual Studio, Version Control, Visual Studio Online, and Visual Studio Extensibility.